B4IGO Posted May 6, 2004 Share Posted May 6, 2004 Just looking for some suggestions on what to use as a ground/substrate cover in a planted aquarium. After something that ideally propogates well. Plants that are readily available between Sydney and Newcastle would be good too Thanks for your help! regards, Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grungefreek Posted May 6, 2004 Share Posted May 6, 2004 Hey, well the type of ground cover u use will depend on how big your tank is. Bigger tanks have a much larger selection of good carpet plants. Heres a few: Glosso (Glossostigma elatinoides) Pygmy Chain Sword (Echinodorus Tenellus) Brazilian Micro Sword (Lilaeopsis brasiliensis) someone suggested "rubra" ? Yeah thats just a few i know. Havent had much experience with them cause my tank is sooo small. Have ahir grass in, it seems to grow fairly quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mbuna Posted May 6, 2004 Share Posted May 6, 2004 i to am looking for a good foreground plant in my tiny 1.5 foot planted tank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grungefreek Posted May 6, 2004 Share Posted May 6, 2004 Well i wouldnt recommend hari grass for your 1.5 ft. I have it in mine, but when it grows too long and needs pruning, the pruned blades die and go brown, so the carpet doesnt look as good then. I would go for glosso, making sure u have heaps of light to keep it short. I reckon it would be the best. I had to go hair grass cause that was the only thing i could find other than thru mail order Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B4IGO Posted May 6, 2004 Author Share Posted May 6, 2004 Thanks for the options grungefreek. That should give me a bit to play with. At the moment I'm leaning towards the glosso. Now I just have to see if I can find some! I've currently got some hairgrass too (all they had at the time), but I think if it ever does spread, its going to be so slow and I'll be an old man before it even looks like covering the substrate. Other plants are blue stricta and wisteria. Looking to get some Java Fern too to add a bit of contrasting colour. Tank is a 2' x 20" x 20", with 3 x 2ft fluoros and DIY CO2, and fertilisation with DuplaPlant. CO2 concentration is about 15ppm (5dKH, ph 7). I might boost the KH up a bit again (out of the tap is about 2dKH!) so I can increase the CO2 concentration a bit more. My CO2 setup: Thanks again for the feedback grungefreek. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajk Posted May 6, 2004 Share Posted May 6, 2004 Hey maye, is that blue thing attache dto the outlet hose a difuser or something? Does the c02 go through there? If so where did you get it? Regards, Andrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B4IGO Posted May 7, 2004 Author Share Posted May 7, 2004 Andrew, Yep its a reactor - I made it myself. Its 50mm acrylic tube with some fittings attached and about 10 large bioballs inside (I really wanted small bioballs, but couldn't find them when I wanted them). The CO2 is injected via the tube connected to the side. Most people just use ordinary PVC for the tube, but I wanted something clear so I could see what was going on inside. All up it cost my about $40, and seems to work "perfectly". Much cheaper than a dupla ;-) I've got enough of the acrylic tube to make about 3 more (at about 10inch length plus fittings), so if you want one I can put one together for you, or I can glue the fittings to the ends of the tube (save you buying the PVC glue), and you can assemble the rest (screw in with some teflon tape to make it water tight) so you can use your own choice of media... regards, Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishly Posted May 7, 2004 Share Posted May 7, 2004 Hi Michael, That's a very nice DIY CO2 reactor. I think want one . How much does the acrylic tube + the fittings? Regards, Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B4IGO Posted May 7, 2004 Author Share Posted May 7, 2004 Hi Tony, I bought the acrylic tube from a plastics place in Newcastle. They quoted me $37/metre, but in the end only charged me $20/metre. The bioballs cost me $2.20 for 10. There's about $16 worth of fittings, plus I had to buy the PVC glue (~$5) and some silicone (~$6.50) . Bunnings had the appropriate fittings to use 13mm or 19mm barbed connectors. My filter intake is ~16mm, and output is 12.5mm, so I have a choice of either As I said, I have enough tube to make three more, so to save you buying the PVC glue I can make one up for you if you like... No guarantees of durability or against the fittings leaking of course - it is DIY afterall. Its been on my tank now for about 3 weeks, and no leaks so far... Dissolution of CO2 seem pretty good too - I'm not getting any bubbles coming out of the spray bar, but due to my low KH I've only got a relatively low CO2 concentration of about 15-17ppm. hmm seems we've gone off topic We can continue this by PM or email if anyone wants more info - mitchell.michael AT bigpond.com regards, Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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